Getting started

Remember my list of projects for this year? We had approximately two nice days in April of which I took full advantage.

On the 14th I got started digging up the boulevard. I decided to start with putting some big stepping stones along the edge so people would have a place to walk when they park along this area.



That patch of ground pretty much looks the same today. I'm at the point where I really want the raised bed to be put in so I have a place to put extra dirt and so I know what areas to dig up and what areas not to. But it's hard to tear Jeremy away from mushrooms at the moment...
The most fun part of this job? The dirt was full of these big creepy beetle-like creatures that I fed to the chickens. They went crazy, of course, every time I brougt a couple bugs back.

Approximately two weeks later we had another nice day so I started on the retaining wall project. Some work has already been done in this photo, namely digging up all the dirt and plants that were sticking out in the sidewalk about 6 inches.



I have a ways to go:



I removed the chain link fence, rolled it right up, had to dig out some trees and raspberries, and then got to work carving out a space for the blocks and then putting them in place. Getting the fence off and finishing this section took about three hours.



Now, I've been saying for ages "we have tons of these blocks." Stacks of them; mounds; piles; scads; probably too many...etc. Finishing this one-third of the wall took way more than I thought, and it really should be one layer higher.

I went around and counted the rest of the blocks and there were only enough left to do the second section!



Ah, Murphy's Law. I thought for sure we had tons of these things. Later on I was in the back and realized we did have enough. At one time. Jeremy used them to build a retaining wall of sorts in the back! And he buried some around the chicken fence to keep predators out. Hmm, what to do. Still haven't figured out how to solved this one. Maybe I'll put a piece of wood in the third section.

I'm not going to get too crazy about it, because this is only temporary anyway. (Uh..as in we have a plan to do something way better, but it will probably take another 10 years till we get around to it!). But in the mean time, I don't want all the plants and dirt drooling out over the sidewalk.

So, two projects in process. (Actually, three - but I haven't got a picture of that third one yet...)